‘F1′ number plate sold for £375k to fund Pass Plus Scheme – say Bedford driving instructors

THE most expensive number plate in the UK has been sold to a car designer – for £375,000.

The F1 plate, which belonged to Essex County Council, was sold by them to automotive designer and businessman Afzal Kahn from Kahn Design Ltd.

The money raised from the sale will go to the education and training of young drivers. Hundreds of young and recently passed drivers will be given help to take the Pass Plus test, which gives advanced training in driving techniques.
Essex County Council Leader, Lord Hanningfield, and an Essex advanced trained young driver will hand over the plate to its new owner on January 28th at the motoring venue, North Weald Airfield in Essex, where a demonstration of advanced young driver training will take place.

The “F1” marque was sold three years after being put up for private sale. The amount it sold for breaks the previous record sale by £44,000; that was for the “M1” plate, sold for £331,000.

The money raised from the sale will go to the education and training of young drivers. Hundreds of young and recently passed drivers will be given help to take the Pass Plus test, which gives advanced training in driving techniques. The test, designed by the Driver Standards Agency, gives youngsters knowledge of how to drive on motorways and in poor weather conditions. The test is recognised by many car insurance companies, lowering insurance premiums and also by many employers.

“F1” was first registered in the Essex County Register of Motors in 1904 as belonging to the County Surveyor of Essex County Council. It was displayed on the first official car of the first Chairman of Essex County Council and has remained in the county council’s possession ever since, having had pride of place on the Chairman’s car until recently when it was replaced with the plate, “ECC1”.

Leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hanningfield said: “It will be with some sadness that we will be losing this little piece of Essex history but we have sold it at a time when such numberplates are reaching very high sale prices on the market and we have reached a deal which breaks all previous records.

“Registration plates were originally intended as a way of improving road safety through a system of licensing vehicles and I am pleased that more than a hundred years on that is exactly what this money will be doing, improving safety on our roads by helping with the training of young drivers”

Afzal Kahn, owner of Kahn Design, said: “I am privileged to have acquired such a prestigious plate. I am extremely happy the money raised from the sale will help improve road safety and through the training of young drivers. . The training of young drivers is a very important issue and I am privileged to have contributed to such a worthy cause.

“I look forward to The F1 number plate being placed on the groundbreaking Range Rover Cosworth that we will be launching in the coming weeks.”

Essex County Council has a record of bringing down road accidents with a 12% fall in accidents in 2007. However, 325 young people were killed or seriously injured on the roads last year and Essex County Council together with the Essex Casualty Reduction Board are set to launch a range of activities to reduce the level of accidents throughout 2008.

Source: Sussex and Essex Online and Essex County Council websites 31/01/08

Any comments from driving instructors who are members of BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) giving driving lessons and Pass Plus lessons in Bedford?